Our heroes are woken explosively by the arrival of a fleet of Fire Nation airships, with Azula at their head. Zuko buys time by facing her one-on-one, completing his integration into The Gaang, who now seem to have no further reservations about his presence; he even jokes about chasing Aang around for old time's sake. Only Katara continues to resist, explaining that she can't forgive him and the Fire Nation for all they've done.

That night, Zuko goes to Sokka for advice and is treated to a Flashback of how their mother Kya was killed during a Fire Nation attack on the Southern Water Tribe. The next morning, Zuko offers to help Katara hunt down those who slew her mother. Sokka and Aang are hesitant, the Avatar in particular stressing that forgiveness and not violence will bring peace, but when Aang discovers Katara preparing to steal Appa if necessary, he relents and lets them go.

Using Zuko's knowledge of Fire Nation communication channels, they identify the division which was responsible for Kya's murder, The Southern Raiders. From there, they track down the group's retired captain, Yon Rha, who now lives with his overbearing mother. Upon being confronted with this vengeful Waterbender, he expresses incredulity: he was dispatched to the Southern Water Tribe to kill their only living Waterbender, which Kya claimed to be. Katara prepares the killing blow... only to stop at the last moment, deciding that this shriveled, pitiful man doesn't even deserve death.

Back at the camp, she hugs Zuko and thanks him, seemingly over her mis-directed hatred. Aang comes, saying how proud he is that she was able to forgive. She shakes her head, saying coldly "I didn't forgive him. I'll never forgive him." Nonetheless, Aang is still proud, and stresses that violence is never the answer.

Zuko has only one answer to that: what is Aang going to do when it's time to face the Fire Lord?

Tropes:

A Fate Worse Than Death: Instead of being killed, the Southern Raider lost everything he had and now lives in pure fear of Katara changing her mind.

Armor-Piercing Question: The episode ends with Zuko asking Aang what he plans to do when he faces Ozai, if he truly believes that violence is never the answer. Aang's got no answer.

Berserk Button: Katara bloodbends the first man she thought was responsible for her mother's death.

Beware the Nice Ones: See above. Also, when enraged, her waterbending is so powerful and so precise that she can halt individual raindrops mid-fall and then turn them into a swarm of deadly ice-daggers.

Getting Crap Past the Radar: When Zuko goes to Sokka for advice, he's evidently preparing for some sort of meeting with Suki. Half-dressed. At night. In the privacy of his own tent.

Visual Pun: The morning after, Sokka is fiddling with a necklace of flowers. To indicate that, you know, he got lei'd.

And that Suki was de-flowered.

I Am Spartacus: It is revealed through flashback that Katara's mother, Kya, claimed to be the waterbender the Fire Nation was looking for to protect Katara. She ends up dying for it.

Impossible Task: When Zuko asks Katara what he can do to make up his earlier betrayal to her, she gives him two options: recapture Ba Sing Se in the name of the Earth King, or bring her mother back to life. He decides to Take a Third Option and figure out what really is bothering her— her mother's death— to give Katara closure.

Jerkass Has a Point: Katara when pointing out to Zuko that the one time she trusted him, he betrayed her in Ba Sing Se; she doesn't even have to mention that Aang nearly died as a result. Zuko admits this when he doesn't contest her point.

Large Ham: Azula's sheer joy at getting to "celebrate becoming an only child" makes her release her usual self-control a bit. While it's true she might have needed to shout to be heard at that distance anyway, it is quite clear that's not the reason for her hamminess at this point. It's clear that she's starting to go a bit crazy.

O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Katara hated the fact that she learned bloodbending. The fact that she uses it here shows just how serious she is about possibly killing the man responsible for her mother's murder.

Punch Parry: A pretty damn epic one between Zuko and Azula, as they're just about to shoot fire at each other. This results in a rather huge explosion.

Took a Level in Jerkass: Katara following Azula's ambush; it's implied that she's angry at Zuko since he indirectly caused her father to leave again. She then deliberately goad Zuko when the other cheer him, calls out Zuko for expecting her to trust him given what happened in Ba Sing Se, and accuses Sokka of not loving their mother enough. She finally calms down after finding closure, and being able to forgive Zuko.

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